DANBURY, Conn. -- State Rep. David Scribner (R- Danbury), Republican leader of the Transportation Committee, recently questioned the leaders of Metro-North Railroad and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority at a hearing designed to reveal what will be done to improve rail safety.

Joseph J. Giulietti, president of Metro-North Railroad and Thomas F. Prendergast, chairman and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority attended the Transportation Committee’s information hearing at the Legislative Office Building to provide testimony and answer questions on corrective actions and accountability following recent rail catastrophes.

“This hearing was a step in the right direction as the legislature initiates an open dialogue with Metro-North and the MTA about how we can work together to improve rail transit throughout the region,” Scribner said in a statement. “I am hopeful that the Chairman and President will fulfill their commitment to improving performance and reliability, and we will hold them accountable as they continue to submit reports and updates on their operations.”

Some of the measures taken to improve safety that were reported during the hearing include: increased track inspections, implementing signal system modifications to enforce speed automatically, reducing speed limits at dozens of locations, the establishment of a new chief executive of safety position within Metro-North, the implementation of “alerter” devices to ensure engineers remain responsive and the retention of an outside organization to assess and improve track maintenance.

“We must and will get back to the basics of good railroading – providing safe and reliable service every single day,” Giulietti said in a statement.